Mike D'Antoni to Replace Mike Brown and Coach the Lakers? Other Names: Coach K, Brian Shaw, Jerry Sloan and Obviously, Phil Jackson
By Jason McIntyre
As Lakers ownership has been considering firing of Brown, Mike D'Antoni has been a prominent name discussed as replacement, sources tell Y!
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 9, 2012
Mike D’Antoni replacing Mike Brown as head coach of the Lakers makes plenty of sense – he knows Kobe well, and Steve Nash thrived in his system – but D’Antoni is recovering from knee replacement surgery. D’Antoni, whom I liked in New York, got screwed by Carmelo Anthony and is probably very eager to start winning again.
Coach K is a longshot. .0001 percent chance he bails on Duke on the eve of the college basketball season. His legacy would be tarnished for abandoning the program. Brian Shaw will be a popular name from the media, but upper management has never seemed enamored with him. He was passed over for the Brown job (which Kobe was never asked about).
Jerry Sloan and Phil Jackson seem to be likely candidates. As many have surmised, the Lakers probably don’t pull the trigger on the firing without having some type of deal in place with someone else. If Jerry Sloan couldn’t co-exist with Deron Williams, how do you expect him to deal with Kobe and Dwight?